Boyfriend faces murder charge in Memphis 3-year-old's death

A man who told police he spanked a 3-year-old for five or six minutes because she was crying has been indicted on felony murder charges, according to the Shelby County District Attorney's office.

Tony McKinney, 27, is charged with first-degree murder in the perpetration of aggravated child abuse in the May 29 death of his girlfriend's daughter, Ciriyah West.

McKinney said he was home alone with the child at an apartment near Clarke Road and Mt. Moriah in southeast Memphis, while the child's mother, Cassietta West, was at work. He handed the unresponsive child to West when he picked her up from work.

He told police he spanked the child because she was crying after a bath. The 3-year-old died at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital a week later from multiple blunt trauma injuries.